Wizards trade Daniels, waive Brown

December 10, 2:38 PMWashington Wizards ExaminerGeorge Panagakos

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Really?

Wizards President Ernie Grunfeld continues to carve into the Washington Wizards today after the announcement of a three way trade in which the Wizards lose Antonio Daniels to New Orleans, and receive point guard hopeful Javaris Crittenton, who played at the bottom of the bench for the Los Angeles Lakers, and the more able veteran Mike James (no, not that annoying rapper), who, at his best, averaged 20.3 points per game and 5.8 assists for the Toronto Raptors.  James also played with Caron Butler in Miami, and I guess there could be some chemistry there, eventually.

Check the trade out in the ESPN's Trade Machine.  Isn't that sweet?  We're getting a guy so good, he doesn't even have a photo (edit: at the time of this post, Crittenton did not have an image available through the Trade Machine).

In addition to losing AD, the Wizards waived Dee Brown to make space on the roster for Crittenton.  I just don't understand it.  If the Wizards are weak in one area, it isn't guard play.  When I watched Crittenton play for the Lakers, he had some speed like Brown, but not the handle or point guard sense.  Maybe he is a better shooter at this point, but despite my criticism, I think Brown was developing into a better shooter every day.

I guess Grunfeld expects James to give the Wizards some immediate scoring, but if that is the case, who will start at point now, Juan Dixon, or James?

I'm sort of at ends here.  The Wizards, and Ed Tapscott, love Darius Songaila, the jump-shooter that could (except when it comes to moving laterally), and Dominic McGuire, the defensive rebounding guy who usually doesn't score (except when he plays the Pistons at home).  I would have much rather seen a trade in that category, maybe like Dominic McGuire for Brandon Bass of the Dallas Mavericks, or something that would make sense.

Now, if James averages 20 points per game and 6 assists, and then Gilbert averages better when he comes back, maybe I'll be eating my words, but right now, it's just a lot to digest.  I will miss AD, and Dee Brown.

Five Stat Comparison:
>Brown and Daniels: 7.5 PPG, 3.3 RPG, 5.5 APG, 1.1 SPG, 0.0 BPG; 1.82 TPG
>Crittenton and James: 5.2 PPG, 1.8 RPG, 1.7 APG, 0.3 SPG, 0.0 BPG; 0.81 TPG

One thing I should mention is Crittenton and James are both averaging less than 10 minutes a game so far this season, and neither have started.  So the Wizards are getting rid of two guys they've used for starters, one who has clocked over 20 minutes a game in Daniels, for two benchers whom, for whatever reason, haven't earned minutes for their teams.  Hmm.

Well, time will only tell how crazy a trade this was for the Wizards, but the Caron Butler connection is the only thing keeping me from saying it is terrible.

Also a small note: a happy belated birthday to Oleksiy Pecherov, who turned 23 last Monday.